Essence of a Crush
by Arctic Husky
Summary: [Colloyd, one shot] She knew that she felt something special for Lloyd, but it couldn't really be placed into words... that is, until Sheena began playing a little game of 'describe the essence of a crush' with her.


This is just a little light-hearted something that I wrote up when I was thinking about how having a crush on someone can be stalker-ish, in a way. Ha ha! It's my first attempt at a focus on Colloyd, although there isn't really any interaction between the two characters. The style of writing that I used seems heavily influenced by Lil-Samuu's good ol' warm fuzzies, and Colette-Sheena friendship. So shame on you, Samuu, inspiring me like that! For such a reason, I have _no_ choice but to dedicate this one-shot to you! Enjoy, everyone.

Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of Symphonia, or any of its characters.

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Essence of a Crush

A loud burst of laughter erupted from the table where the three youngest males of the traveling group were gathered. Colette peered up from the book in her lap, pen in her hand. She couldn't for the life of her determine why the boys kept breaking into laughter as they just had; she assumed that it had something to do with the pile of playing cards on the table. In fact, when she took a few moments to observe the boys, she could see that Lloyd and Zelos were doing all of the laughing. Genis appeared rather agitated as he gathered up the cards and began piling them on top of each other like a tower.

She shook her head to herself with a light smile as she placed the tip of her pen on a page of the book and began curling some cursive writing onto the sheet; _It's getting pretty late, but I don't feel like going to my room just yet. For some reason, I want to stay up for as long as the boys stay up. Or at least..._ Colette's pen jumped from her notebook as laughter broke out again. Even though she knew that she would—once again—receive no explanation, she looked over to the table to find Zelos and Lloyd in hysterics once more; holding their sides to stop the pain of excessive amusement, holding the table to keep from falling over. Genis, looking rather infuriated, picked up a handful of cards and threw them at the other two boys with as much force as he could muster, which when dealing with playing cards did not end up being very effective. Lloyd and Zelos laughed even more.

Colette was about to turn back to her journal when Lloyd turned his head in her direction, their eyes catching each other's for an instant before Colette looked downwards. She placed her pen on the paper again and let it dither there for a moment before adding a single word: _Lloyd._

Where did it come from? She hadn't a clue; all that she could say for certain was that she needn't write anything more in her journal. With a dreamful sigh, she closed the book and rested it atop her upper legs. Without even realizing it, Colette stared at the boys again—or one boy in particular. She studied Lloyd as he and the two others engaged in a game of cards. Lloyd's expressions always grew very serious when his turn came around, however there was an unwavering smile on his face as he watched the other two make their plays. His smile was contagious to Colette.

"There's something stalkerish about a crush, isn't there?"

Colette froze in her spot as the other voice rose up from behind her. She remained still until she was certain that none of the boys had taken notice to the extra remark; after she was absolutely sure, she turned around in a fit, "Sheena! Why would you say that?!" Her face was red.

"Oh, you're blushing," the ninja noted, standing behind the chair that Colette was seated on, "So my theory was dead-on, then!"

With a sheepish groan, Colette turned back around and sank into her seat. "Uh—uhm... I have no clue what you're talking about," she giggled lightly, "Really."

Sheena casually wandered around the chair until she was standing in front of Colette. She folded her arms under her chest and stared at the girl defiantly for a moment. After that brief stare, she lightly pushed Colette to the side and helped herself to a seat on the undersized chair. "Of course you do. You may be extremely naïve to some things, but not to your feelings."

Avoiding the main subject, Colette retorted, "I'm not _that_ naïve!" With a simple, sly look, Sheena relayed the response of 'yes, you are'. Colette let out a soft huff as she peeked up, carefully looking towards the boys. Each time that one of the boys made a movement that looked as though perhaps they would turn towards the girls, Colette nervously looked downwards, and then up again. "I feel so weird looking at him all of the time like that," the blonde murmured apprehensively.

"Well, at least you're a remotely decent stalker," Sheena commented as she placed a finger upon her chin.

"Stop it!" Colette retorted in a quiet voice, giving her friend a semi-playful shove. She didn't want to be on the receiving end of any attention from the males. "I—I really feel bad!"

Sheena shook her head; partially to herself, and partially at Colette's reaction. "Don't, Colette," she assured, her voice suddenly growing very serious yet soothing, "You're allowed to have a crush. It's normal to think about someone more than you regularly would when you're crushing on them."

The younger girl gently kicked at the floor with her toe. "But—" she began to object, but Sheena once again tried to settle her scepticism:

"Don't tell me," she interrupted, "He's the first thing that you think of when you wake up, and the last thing on your mind as you drift into sleep." Sheena turned slightly to the right so that Colette was within her view. Sylvarant's Chosen blinked, wide-eyed and amazed, while staring directly at Sheena. "And whenever he's in the room, you're constantly trying to steal glances in his direction—half wanting to look at him, and half hoping that you can catch him looking at you."

"And when you wake up in the morning and have to decide on clothes or how to wear your hair, you want to make the decision that will impress him the most," Colette joined in, "even though he never notices when you look a little different." The final addition to Colette's statement earned an amused snicker from Sheena. "And you're always trying to get a conversation out of him. And if he's ever the one to start the conversation, then you're just thrilled."

Sheena could see that Colette now had a pleasant smile on her face, and she was no longer constantly peeking towards the others to see if they were looking. This confidence made the summoner smile as well, although more gently than Colette. Having no desire to end the 'game' just yet, Sheena added, "And with each day that you see him, you notice every little detail that has changed; and as far as you're concerned, all of the changes simply make him look better." Colette giggled and nodded enthusiastically, apparently agreeing with every word that Sheena was saying. The older girl continued, seeming as though she had suddenly been struck by inspiration, "And all it takes is a little moment of ignorance from him, or a little bit of attention directed towards another girl to upset you and make you vow to stop liking him, then and there..."

"...But the next time that he speaks to you," Colette cut in, "or just looks at you, you forgive him like it had never happened in the first place."

Both girls fell silent as they looked upon the three boys. Genis slammed his final card down on the table and then raised his arms in triumph, while the demeanours of Lloyd and Zelos immediately switched from cheerful to frustrated. "So," Sheena leaned her back against Colette's as the two of them continued to watch the boys, "Just how much do you like him, Colette?"

The angel turned her head so that Sheena was within her sight, and waited until the summoner responded by turning her own head such that they could meet eye-to-eye. "I don't know," Colette replied, causing a frown to appear on Sheena's face. With a smile, the blonde yet again turned her gaze towards the brown-haired swordsman, "I'll tell you after he goes to bed. My answer may change depending on whether he says goodnight to me or not."

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So it's rather short, but most of my first attempts at pairing one-shots are. I like it, nonetheless, since it's just meant to be a cute little thing. Feedback would make me a very happy girl! Thank you for reading! (I'll work on updating my other stories soon.)


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